How to “Gamify” Home Organization and Conquer Your Goals

Sometimes getting motivated to get organized and declutter your home is the hardest part. Just like when you were a kid, sometimes tricking yourself into making chores a challenge is the only way to get anything done.

Little wonder that Silicon Valley has seized upon such a universal preference and have launched an entire industry dubbed “gamification” around it.

Now a number of super-cool apps are available that provide incentives and rewards that can turn household drudgery into a multimedia amusement.

Just as surely as Mint.com can help manage your money and Fitbit can help you shed a few pounds, these role-playing game (RPG) apps can turn your list of organizing tasks and goals into an exciting interactive competition with scary monsters to vanquish, milestones to reach, awards to celebrate and a clean house to show for it.

Best case scenario, they’ll ingrain healthy housekeeping habits within you that won’t require an iPhone to access.

Chore Wars

Don your best medieval game face and enlist friends and relatives to join in battling monsters and uncovering gold and loot as you progress through quests assigned by the dungeon master. Or choose single-player and let your good housekeeping alone earn you the credits to overcome your demons, onscreen and within.

Habitica turns your goals into monsters that need slaying.

Habitica

In this gamer app, you’re in control as you knock out your home to-do list, earn achievement points, battle monsters, accumulate sweet gear and tap into motivational tools that help turn a pastime into a habit. You can compete with the community’s more than 2,000,000 users as well. There are even corporate plans available to motivate your entire office to tidy up.

SuperBetter

By tackling a series of quests, you gain the strength to overcome bad guys (read: bad habits) along the way and achieve epic wins, thereby building your physical, mental, spiritual and social strength.

“If you aren’t motivated, gamification won’t get you in shape or lose weight, make you more productive, or make you a better person. However, it can add to an existing foundation that could help you get there, if you want it to,” he says. “Like any game, designers need to create a compelling experience that brings you in, and if they can’t do that you won’t maintain interest for long. Which is to say, if a gamified app doesn’t appeal to you right away, don’t bother with it.”